Japan, Australia and several European allies said on Monday they do not plan to send naval vessels to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, after US President Donald Trump called on partners to form a coalition to reopen the strategic waterway.
The request comes as the US-Israeli war on Iran enters its third week, disrupting maritime traffic and rattling global energy markets. Trump has argued that countries heavily dependent on Gulf oil should help secure the strait, through which about 20 percent of the world’s energy supply passes.
“I’m demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory because it is their territory,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday while travelling from Florida to Washington. “It’s the place from which they get their energy.”
Trump said Washington had contacted seven countries about participating in a naval effort but did not identify them. In a social media post over the weekend he said he hoped China, France, Japan, South Korea and Britain would participate.
However, several governments moved quickly on Monday to distance themselves from any potential military deployment.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Tokyo had made no decision to dispatch escort vessels, citing the constraints of Japan’s pacifist constitution.
“We have not made any decisions whatsoever about dispatching escort ships,” Takaichi told parliament.
Australia also indicated it would not contribute naval forces.
“We know how incredibly important that is, but that’s not something that we’ve been asked or that we’re contributing to,” Catherine King, a cabinet minister in Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government, told the ABC.
European governments also signalled reluctance to take part in any new naval mission in the Gulf.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said securing the Strait of Hormuz would not be a NATO mission.
Greece said it would not participate in military operations in the strait, with government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis saying Athens would only contribute to the European Union’s naval mission Aspides in the Red Sea.
Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said expanding the EU’s Aspides mission to the Strait of Hormuz would require a new legal framework and parliamentary mandate in Berlin.
Germany’s government spokesperson added it was not known whether Washington had made a formal request for assistance.
Italy struck a similar tone, with Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani saying he did not see any existing naval mission that could be extended to the strait and emphasising that diplomacy remained the appropriate response to the crisis.
EU naval mission under discussion
European Union foreign ministers are expected to discuss possible steps to help protect shipping routes in the region, including whether the bloc’s Red Sea naval mission could play a role.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said expanding Operation Aspides — launched in 2024 to protect commercial vessels from attacks by Yemen’s Houthis — could be the fastest way to boost maritime security.
“It is in our interest to keep the Strait of Hormuz open,” Kallas told journalists in Brussels.
However, diplomats said EU member states are unlikely to immediately expand the mission’s mandate.
Aspides currently deploys three warships from France, Greece and Italy in the Red Sea.
Pressure on China and allies
Trump has also urged China to help restore maritime traffic through the strait and suggested he could delay a planned visit to Beijing if support was not forthcoming.
“I think China should help too because China gets 90 percent of its oil from the Straits,” Trump told the Financial Times. “We may delay.”
China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Although some Iranian vessels have continued to transit the waterway and a limited number of foreign ships have crossed, most tanker traffic has been disrupted since the United States and Israel launched a large-scale bombing campaign against Iran on February 28.
